Creation Myth Essay


In the myths, the community treats women without respect. The Iroquois and Seneca people look at women as a waste of life. "The World on the Turtle's Back" presents how a woman falls down a hole created in the center of the village. People in the society do not know exactly how she falls, but some infer "that her husband . . . pushed her" (Iroquois 1). Marriage is a symbol of love between a man and a women, but for the villagers to think that he pushes her provides evidence on how women possess no rights in the society. The Iroquois people present the same situation again when the woman falls through the sky, but when the villagers see her distress, "they chose to ignore it" (Iroquois 1). The townspeople see her distress; however, they pay no attention to her peril. Her life is worthless to them which supports how useless women are in the eyes of the Iroquois people. "Two Brothers and Their Grandmother" presents how insignificant women are in the society when a hole is created in the center of the village by the townspeople for a sick girl. Their disgust for women does not look at age, so the young, innocent girl is susceptible to poor treatment; moreover, a young man is simply able to kick "her into the hole" (Seneca 36) without judgment by his peers. Though the villagers attempt to help the young girl, the community can not help but to return to its natural habits. In this case, it exemplifies how rough life is for women in this world, and it once again shows how women do not have rights in the town. The two myths reveal a direct correlation with each other on the insignificance of women in the society.